Learning to Love
by Chubakaman
Summary: Shikimori Kazuki has been trained to be the cold, emotionless antimagic super soldier from a young age. But when 3 girls appear, suddenly claiming his genes for their own, can Kazuki become human again?
1. Chapter 1

Captain Jim Morris of the 1st Magic Brigade was the best of the best. He had no doubt that he was one of the strongest mages of the Magic Brigade, a title that he was very proud of. For years, magic had been a deciding factor for wars, and in a world where everyone could use magic to some extent, powerful magic could turn the tide on any battle. Captain Morris knew this, and was proud to say that he was one of the elite "magic freaks" of his company. He was damn proud of his organization and it showed in the way he carried himself. His straight posture gave him the look of a large, powerful man who wouldn't take any bullshit. His uniform was always clean and sharp, down to the slightest detail with no wrinkles in his clothing. Without a doubt, he could say he was one helluva soldier, trained to be the best, and with one of the highest and most powerful magic counts to boot.

In a world where everyone had a certain number of magic attempts, peace was extremely difficult to maintain. Every now and then, there would be someone with thousands of magic attempts and a high magic power that would attempt to use their magic to wreak havoc and cause destruction on a grand scale. Then there was the Magic Brigade, an international group of soldiers carefully selected from each country's armed forces that would attempt to stop such things and maintain the peace. They literally kept the world together, and if it weren't for them, the world would have literally broken into pieces centuries ago. The Magic Brigade was called on for any major magical crimes, from attempts to dominate the world to attempts to destroy it. Aided by modern technology, the Brigade sought to stop any violent attempts to destroy everything by using the mysterious force of magic.

Captain Morris was one of the best soldiers in the Brigade. He had over a 300,000 magic count, and his magic was amongst the most powerful of his company. He had passed magic university with ease, and immediately joined the US Armed Forces, something he had always dreamed of doing. He had been assigned to a Sorcery division. He quickly rose up through the ranks and within a few years became a Captain, and quickly got recommended to join the Magic Brigade. He passed the physical, magical, and written entry exams with ease and within a year, was recruited by the famous Magic Brigade. Captain Morris knew he was the best, highly trained in both conventional warfare and magical warfare. He was elite, trained to kill for the greater good.

So why was someone like him assigned to be some unknown researcher's babysitter?

Dr. Shino Akai was simply a nerd. She was a mage specializing in arcane magic and black magic. From an early age, she spent every day of her life reading, and it resulted in her attaining knowledge on many subjects. She spoke 8 different languages fluently as if she was native, was an expert on several science and magical subjects, and from what Morris could tell, was one of the military's highly paid "magic techies" who was paid an exorbitant sum to conduct research on the mixture of modern technology and science.

Captain Morris disapproved of the mixture of science and magic, which seemed extremely contradictory. Magic could not be explained, even today, by science and science could not be a part of magic in his view. He had seen enough battles and been through enough firefights to know that guns and magic spells didn't mix. You were either a person skilled enough in magic to use it in combat or a person without any magical ability using firearms. He had seen countless soldiers pinned down who used magic as a last resort – only to have it completely backfire on them. It was too unpredictable. Needless to say, he was very reluctant to be Dr. Akai's "babysitter". God knows there was plenty for him to do elsewhere in the world. But orders were orders, and Morris wasn't the man to disobey them.

Right now, the unlikely pair was sitting on a bench like a couple, dressed in normal civilian clothing, something that Morris detested to the very core of his soul. He was military to the core, loving his uniform and sported the typical military haircut. The pair was currently sitting in the downtown area of a city in Japan, where Dr. Akai was born and raised. Morris felt very out of place; he already received many strange looks for obviously being a foreigner. He didn't know why he was there; only that he was to guard Dr. Akai as she did whatever she was supposed to do.

"Try not to act so tense. Relax; we're just a married couple waiting for the bus so we can go to a restaurant." Dr. Akai said, as she noticed Morris's stiff posture. He was clearly uncomfortable.

"With all due respect ma'am, the sign clearly states that the bus will not come here today. Not only that, but I obviously stick out. Our disguise is weak. If this was an undercover mission, then the enemy would have already discovered us and either killed or captured us." Morris stated, as he stood up straighter in a more nervous position. His hand edged closer to his concealed sidearm, and his other hand prepared a magical projectile. As a soldier of the Magic Brigade, Morris was taught to never stay in one place for more than 5 seconds, as magic was as unpredictable as it was powerful. Standing out in the open in broad daylight with no back up was something that went against every of Morris's instincts. In a magic engagement, the key was to keep moving, because a magic spell would tear apart any stationary target as fast as any bullet, even if you were hiding behind a 3 foot thick wall of steel.

Dr. Akai gave a short laugh "Relax. I doubt the people we're observing will notice that."

Morris raised an eyebrow, but otherwise remained absolutely still. "And why is that?"

"Because they're only kids." Dr. Akai said and pointed out a young boy standing on a bridge a distance away where a small pink haired girl stood crying. "Watch and take careful notes."

The young boy walked up to the crying girl and said something. The girl, through her tears, replied back. Morris strained to listen, but it was much too far. Dr. Akai noticed this and produced a strange headset and offered it to Morris.

"Take it. It's a listening device enhanced by a magical charm." Morris carefully took the headset and stared at it in disgust. Though he didn't like attempts to mix magic and technology, he reluctantly put them on. In an instant, he heard everything the two children were saying.

Apparently, the girl was moving away and she didn't want to. The boy tried to comfort her by saying that he was the "Greatest Magician in the World." The girl, awestruck, asked him to use his magic to make her stay. The boy, saddened, said he couldn't do that. The girl instead, asked him to make it snow and then whispered something in his ear, something that made Morris feel slightly bad for eavesdropping.

The boy, without hesitation, lifted his arms in the air. Instantly, a flurry of snowflakes began falling in the midst of the heat of a hot summer day. The broiling heat seemed to melt away as snowflakes fell to the ground. Morris could only stare in amazement. He could of course do it, by using one attempt to get rid of the heat, one attempt to form the snow, and one more to make it fall without melting, but this boy – no older than 6, had managed to create snow with one attempt, something that only the world's most powerful magicians ever could hope to accomplish. Dr. Akai took note of this with a nod and quickly wrote it down on her notepad. After taking notes, she glanced at Morris, who took off his headset.

"How did that-"

"It's precisely why I am observing that child." Dr. Akai answered his question "and 35 others like him. Here read his file."

She handed him a folder marked "PROJECT MABURAHO" Morris looked through the folder and read the first page of it. It was labeled "**First Subject – Shikimori Kazuki**" it had a picture of a young 6 year old boy – the same boy that Morris was looking at. Morris quizzically looked at Dr. Akai and began to ask.

"What is so special about this boy that he requires the attention of a civilian scientist and a Magic Brigade soldier? He may have unusually powerful magical power, yes, but according to this document, his magic count is dangerously low. It's below 10! I'm sorry ma'am, but…"

"Allow me to answer your question before you finish." Dr. Akai took back her folder and began looking through it. "For one thing, there are certain individuals that have low magic counts but have almost limitless power. This boy is one of those individuals. In fact, this boy is perhaps special amongst even those special people. His magic power levels have never been seen in one so young before. If you looked carefully, you would see an attached report." Dr. Akai held up a report. Morris glanced at it and saw that it was a family tree.

"A family tree… of history's most powerful magicians ever." Morris recalled his history knowledge, something that every Magic Brigade member had memorized.

"Look at the bottom of the sheet." Dr. Akai offered. Morris glanced at the bottom of the sheet and saw a name displayed there. _Shikimori Kazuki_. His mouth gaped.

"Yes, apparently, Shikimori Kazuki was born to a long line of powerful magicians. It's in his genes. Apparently, his ancestors were powerful western magicians who married into powerful eastern magicians. The result is him, a young child, born with proficiency in 2 types of regional magic, and an unusually powerful magic, albeit with an incredibly low amount of magic attempts."

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I still don't see why this would warrant an investigation."

"It's not what the child is right now; it's what he could be. His magic could be something that would save the world. His magic could accomplish things that not even the Magic Brigade could hope to accomplish." Morris twitched at that. "As he grows, his power will continue to grow, to the point that he may possibly destroy the entire world at his wish – or save it."

"So what is Project MABURAHO?"

Dr. Akai sighed and watched as the boy and girl left the bridge together. She continued with her explanation "Since you'll be accompanying me to observe the next 35 subjects, then I suppose I could tell you the declassified details. Project MABURAHO is the creation of the ultimate anti-magical unit, specializing in the prevention of magical catastrophes, crimes, and even wars. This boy could prevent another World War, or a bloody civil war, or even the demented plan to dominate or destroy the world by a crazed magician."

"I see…" Morris sort of got what she was saying but didn't quite understand "But that is what the Magic Brigade is for. Plus, with such low magic counts, they'd only be useful for a few conflicts. In fact, we have about 15 potentially dangerous conflicts every day that could disrupt the order of the world. What difference could 36 children do?"

Dr. Akai smiled "All the difference in the world. I'm afraid I can't go into detail, but these children will become the ultimate strike force, the strongest warriors Earth will offer. They will utilize both magic and technology to accomplish their goal."

Morris stared at her "Magic and technology? I'm certain that modern research has proven that the two usually don't mix very well."

Dr. Akai shook her head. "First you must define the two. Magic is defined as phenomena that we cannot explain through logical ways. So in other words, magic is what we don't understand. Science, however, is natural phenomena that we can explain and understand how it works. In other words, magic becomes science once we have discovered its secrets and science is just magic explained through logic, research, and careful observations. Physics and magic are completely compatible as we know magic has a profound effect on the laws of physics and twists and breaks those rules. The reason why we haven't been able to make a _useful or successful_ combination of the two is that we have yet to discover the true nature of magic. In other words, its simply too unpredictable for us to comprehend."

Morris nodded. He had heard that argument before; it was the definition many mages and scientists gave magic. Phenomena of unknown origins that could not be explained or comprehended by people, but people knew that this phenomena had occurred. It was perhaps the only link between science and magic, being that magic was simply unexplained science, which is observations of the natural world around us. But, still, Morris had an unanswered question. "So why kids? If you want soldiers, we got plenty. So why kids?"

Dr. Akai suddenly looked very regretful and her eyes revealed disgust – against herself. "I'm afraid that I'm not at a liberty to say, but what I can say is that it is for the greater good."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Dr. Akai didn't reply. She stood up and motioned for him to follow her "Come on, there's one more child I must inspect in Japan before the next pair." Morris was confused but followed her anyway.

As they walked away, Dr. Akai looked at the retreating forms of the young boy and girl, and gave a mournful look as she whispered quietly.

"God forgive me for what I must do."

--11 Years Later--

Shikimori Kazuki. 17 years old.

Kazuki was a student at Aoi Academy, an elite magic school. He was in class 2-B, the biggest troublemakers of the school. Everyone at Aoi Academy was powerful magicians, often having thousands of magic attempts. It was an elite school for the high class families and the rich.

Of course, Shikimori Kazuki was the only exception.

Not only did he not come from a rich family, he had the lowest magic count in the school. He only had 8, and because of it, he was at the very bottom of the school's social ladder. Girls seemed to walk right through him, and his "friends" were always taking advantage of him. Magic count was everything in this world, and because of that, he was a nobody.

Kazuki sighed and scratched his short spiky hair. It was the last break before school would finally end for the day and Kazuki could leave. He sat at his desk alone, as his "friends" left the room without him. The girls in the class didn't even seem to see him. He leaned his head on his arm and glanced out the window, staring at the nice sunny day outside. His teacher, Kaori Iba, was pretending to read a book, but in reality was playing a game boy behind his book. Kazuki was the only one who actually noticed.

He stared out the window for a while until his "best friend" Yukihiko Nakamaru walked up to him and grinned while slapping Kazuki's back. He said in a very friendly manner "Yo, buddy. I got an emergency right now. Can you hook me up with some money?" He grinned and elbowed him.

Kazuki sighed "You still owe me money from yesterday."

"Ah right. I'll pay you back, I swear." Nakamaru pleaded. Kazuki sighed and reached in his pocket and pulled out some bills. Nakamaru grinned and took the money. "Thanks man." And without another word, he ran off. Kazuki sighed once more. He could hear Nakamaru outside talking with his friends.

The bell sounded and break was over. As students filed back to class, Kazuki was completely ignored. When Iba-sensei finally realized that the bell had rung, she quickly snapped off her game boy and stood up. "Class, today, we'll be having a physical and magical health examination. The girls will report to Dr. Haruaki Akai first and then the boys. That'll be all."

"Did you hear that? A _magical health_ examination. I guess Kazuki's failing that one?" a guy joked. The class laughed. Kazuki ignored them. He received jibes like this every day, so he was used to it. Plus, he had more important business to attend to.

-

As his class stood outside the doctor's office, a couple of Kazuki's classmates began trying to peek in on the girls changing. And now they were trying to convince Kazuki to look.

"Come on man, with your magic count, you'll never get a girl. This is your only chance!"

Kazuki sighed for the hundredth "I'm sorry, but I rather not get in trouble."

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PERVERTS PEEKING?" A girl burst from the door. She saw Kazuki. Immediately, a mob of girls surrounded him and prepared to start beating him up. Insults came in from all sides as they ganged up on him. Just then, the school doctor, Dr. Haruaki Akai came out. He was a powerful magician, and had long hair and wore a pair of sharp glasses.

"Shikimori Kazuki, report to my office." He said in a cool voice. He very well may have saved Kazuki's life. Shikimori Kazuki nodded and walked into the office, the bystanders parting to make a hole to let him through. It didn't matter if it was Kazuki – everyone respected the doctor greatly and everyone would listen to him without question. He was perhaps the only faculty who could control every student in the academy, simply because everyone knew he was powerful beyond their imagination.

Kazuki quickly walked into his office and closed the door behind him, just to prevent any eavesdroppers. Almost immediately, the doctor activated a barrier in his office, preventing anyone from listening in or peeking inside. Kazuki's demeanor immediately changed, and he stared at the doctor with a blank expression as he shuffled around his office.

"Time for a check-up, Kazuki." Dr. Haruaki Akai said and reached inside one of his drawers to pull out something that none of the other students had seen before. It seemed to be a needle with some sort of hi-tech gadgets attached to it. "Stick your arm out."

Kazuki complied, and the doctor quickly swiped his arm with some alcohol before inserting the needle. Kazuki didn't move as a little of his dark blood was drained into the needle. Dr. Akai pulled it out, and carefully read one of the displays attached to the needle. He nodded, seemingly satisfied at what he saw. He then reached under his desk and pulled out a large duffel bag, which he threw over to Kazuki.

"Are you ready, Kazuki?"

Kazuki nodded, but didn't say anything. Dr. Akai sighed "You already know the details, so I won't have to brief you. Just come back in one piece alright?"

Kazuki nodded once more.

"Be careful."

Kazuki began to walk out of his office, but stopped at the door and hefted the duffel bag onto his shoulder. He slightly turned his head back "I'm always careful." Then he walked out of the office back to his classmates.

Haruaki deactivated the barrier and sighed, taking a sip from a cup of coffee. After a while, he got back to work and sent in a few more students for the physical. Before they entered the door, he reached into his drawer and pulled out a picture of a dark haired woman.

"Damn you sister."

--11 Years Earlier, Beginning of Project MABURAHO--

Dr. Shino Akai stood behind a raised pedestal, as she observed the 36 children before her. Each child was tired and confused, as they had gone to sleep in their homes and had woken up in a strange place. She hated herself for "stealing" these children away from their homes in the middle of the night, but she had no choice. No parent would willingly give up their child if they knew what Project MABURAHO was. Even so, the powerful countries funding the project had demanded that she obtain the "subjects" using any method. A cover story of a "kidnapper" was used to hide what truly happened to the children. Dr. Shino Akai felt less like a human every day.

Each of the 36 subjects had, to her specifications, low magic counts, but unusually strong magic power. Project MABURAHO depended on such traits, especially the low magic counts. Dr. Shino Akai had singlehandedly created the technology behind Project MABURAHO, and she knew what was needed. As the children stared at her in confusion, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"I know you are most likely confused right now about where you are and why you are here, but rest assured, you will understand in due time." The children, young as they were, didn't quite understand her. "You have been chosen to be subjects in a secret government-funded project codenamed MABURAHO." The project had been funded by 18 of the world's most powerful nations, and two subjects were selected out of hundreds from each of the nations.

"You have been selected due to your low magic counts and subsequently high magic power – essential to Project MABURAHO. What Project MABURAHO is…" she glanced around to see that mostly all of the children were greatly confused. She understood. They were only 6. They shouldn't have to be dragged out of their homes, brought to a strange place, and listen to a load of bullshit. She continued "Project MABURAHO is the creation of a warrior specifically trained to prevent any magical catastrophes or crimes. Each soldier of Project MABURAHO will be trained to be the best. But the very essence behind it is the weaponry you will use – the first working weapon system combining magic, science, and technology for use in combat. In other words, you will become a hybrid of a mage and a conventional soldier to become the ultimate anti-sorcery unit."

"You have been called upon to serve, and you will become the best Earth has. You will be heroes, protecting the earth from disaster. You will become the greatest soldiers, hidden in the shadows to wait for the perfect moment to strike. You will be the best of the best, a hybrid utilizing the strengths of both technology and magic. That is what Project MABURAHO is." Dr. Shino Akai chose her words carefully, hoping to arouse interest in the children. She succeeded. As she talked about them being "heroes" "soldiers" and the "best", their interest in the matter quickly jumped, though they still didn't quite get her point.

"Starting from tomorrow, you will train. You shall not see your families again. Your family are the people around you right now from today forward. You will live in society as normal people, but when the time calls, you will become the best killers in the world. Rest well, because tomorrow, we begin. Dismissed." Shino Akai watched as the children slowly stood up and left the room, whispering excitedly. She felt migraine coming on and set her head upon her hand. The children were too young….too young for what was expected of them, too young to understand what was going to happen to them. She knew, at least three quarters of them would be dead by the age of 15, giving up their lives to complete the mission. She knew, that by 10 years later, they most likely would've all died, whether it be killed by some unknown enemy or have exhausted all their magic attempts in saving the world, turning them to dust. Dr. Shino Akai was condemning them to their death and she knew it.

Behind her, her brother, Dr. Haruaki Akai, had walked up. He wore an angry expression on his face, as he stormed up to his sister. He was also behind Project MABURAHO, but both of their views differed greatly on the subjects. Right now, his face was red, and magic power unconsciously leaked out of his body. He roared at his sister.

"How could you? How could you go behind my back and take those kids away? What kind of person are you?" He angrily demanded "Why the hell did you have to take them? We had plenty of adults or soldiers suitable for the project? So why, did you condemn these children!"

The dark haired woman smiled "You know that the children are well-suited for the project, more than any adults. They have more potential, and they are still young, ready to learn."

"So why did you do it? Why did you steal their lives away? How could you do such a heartless thing?"

"Because I can. I will do whatever it takes to make Project MABURAHO succeed." She simply replied.

Haruaki got angrier. "You don't give a shit do you? You don't care if those kids die. You don't care about the lives they could save or not save. All you care about is experimenting on magic, and finally understanding what it is, how it works, and why we have it. Project MABURAHO is just something to help you finally get an answer to the ultimate question. You never could stand not knowing about something."

"True."

"Magic cannot be comprehended! We have tried for countless years to understand it, but we have yet to scratch on the surface!" Dr. Haruaki yelled and then almost raised a hand to hit her, but he stopped. "Fine then. I know better than to try to change your mind, sis, but I hope that you won't regret it, because you won't be much of a human let alone have a soul after this. Do what you will; I quit." He turned briskly on his heel and stormed out, leaving Shino by herself.

She stood for a while, staring blankly, making it difficult to see if she was in any way affected by her brother's statements Finally, after a while, she said out loud to nobody in particular "A soul huh? I lost that years ago…"

--Present--

Haruaki sat back in his chair, memories bubbling to the surface. The only reason that Kazuki attended Aoi academy was that Haruaki had recommended him to the principal and threatened to quit if he wasn't allowed due to his low magic count. Kazuki had to maintain a low profile, and would live a civilian life alongside his life as a soldier. This was so that Haruaki could keep an eye on him, and help him if he needed to, though he doubted he could be of much assistance. If there was something that Kazuki could not beat, it was likely he couldn't either. It turned out to be a mistake. Soon, Haruaki was once again recruited into Project MABURAHO, this time, as Kazuki's "provider" who would give Kazuki his equipment as well as making sure that he was in prime fighting condition. Haruaki hated it, but he had no choice in the matter if he wanted to aid Kazuki in any manner possible.

Originally, it was him and his sister who started Project MABURAHO. It had a simple and honest mission in the start, and was just something the two worked on in their spare time. But, his sister was much more ambitious than he thought, and eventually, she managed to twist and turn the project into something completely different… she managed to gain military funding and eventually turned MABURAHO into a military-related project. All for the purpose of furthering her knowledge of magic. And now, it had become what it was today.

Haruaki sighed and felt like lying down on the bed to relax. Seeing Kazuki always gave him a bad mood. Plus, Iba-sensei was due to visit sometime soon to play her games. He always had a crush on her.

So he pushed away all thoughts of Kazuki and MABURAHO, but he still couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling of guilt in the back of his mind.

-

Kazuki strode through the streets of the city, the night quickly falling upon him. The moment he left the doctor's office, he quickly ignored all of his classmates and ran out. He had quite some time before his mission would start, but he always liked to go early to go over the mission plan in his head. Finally, he reached the abandoned section of town that was almost completely empty of people. He found an alleyway near an old dilapidated warehouse, where his mission would be taking place. Today, he was to infiltrate an organization's base. The organization was led by a radical leader, who believed in the separation of "normal" people and "mage" people. It was a light mission for him, as he had much harder infiltration missions before. In fact, the only reason why the Magic Brigade or the local law enforcement wasn't handling this one was because Kazuki hadn't had a mission in a while.

This was just to keep him from rusting.

Well, it wasn't as if this organization wasn't dangerous. Their leader was known to use magic to hurt or kill people.

Kazuki set down his duffel bag and unzipped it. He pulled out some of his equipment for the mission and quickly got out of his school uniform to change into his armor.

His combat uniform consisted of a skintight shirt and a long baggy trouser, which was tucked into his combat boots. Over his shirt was a suit of Advanced Multi-Protection armor or AMP armor, which was armor commonly used by Magic Brigade members. It consisted of a double layer vest. One layer was made of a material created by alchemy that could disperse magic energy. The second layer consisted of several metal plates overlapping for protecting against non magical attacks, such as firearms commonly used by those with lower magic counts. On his head was a black helmet covering everything but his eyes, which was covered by a blue visor. It was also made of the same material as AMP armor and had a mini-computer installed inside. His entire ensemble was pure shiny black, which made him melt into the shadows. It would aid him in the infiltration.

His main weapon was a long rifle with a large stock, an optic rail with a scope attached, and a long barrel. The weapon had a bullpup configuration, with the 45 round clip behind the trigger. He also had a sidearm in his shoulder holster with a 12 round clip. Both guns fired an extremely special type of bullet, the Anti-Magic Round or AM-R. The AM-R was designed to cancel out magic energy. It was extremely powerful, and it could easily blast through any magic spell or barrier. In fact, it was so powerful that it could actually disrupt the user's magic power, even within the clip, which was why it was never used. The bullet was found to actually drain magic power permanently from its user, and may have led to the users death after too much exposure. Kazuki, however, had a rather...unique magic condition, along with whoever else was recruited into Project MABURAHO, which was one of the reasons why they could use the AM-R without some major side effect to them. The AM-R consisted of an alchemically created metal that was found to completely cancel out magic. It was also effective on normal body armors and could tear through body armor like paper. This bullet enabled Kazuki to kill mages with ease, one of his main objectives.

He also had what seemed to be a sawed off shotgun inside the holster on his right boot. There were several concealed knives, including one made out of the same material as the AM-R. Clipped to his belt was a variety of grenades, ammunition, and what appeared to be the grip of a sword.

Finally, the two most important things was a long flat black metal box, attached to a groove in the back of his AMP armor. It had a few charms and a few incantations carved in. This was his Magic Dissipating/Anti-Matter barrier or MDAM barrier. It was one of the inventions of Shino Akai for Project MABURAHO. The barrier was created by a set of charms which in turn would destroy any matter touching the barrier as well as cancelling out magic. The downside was that it cancelled out magic _within_ the barrier as well, therefore rendering all magic useless but it was the very thing that protected him and kept him alive. It was also a primary reason that he could use Anti-magic rounds for his gun – the barrier cancelled out magic power anyway. The best thing about the barrier was that it didn't use magic energy. In fact, it was run by a special type of technology that tried to simulate magic. Though it was not magic, the barrier was just as strong as any magical barrier.The second important piece of equipment was a pair of black gauntlets with a symbol carved into them that he wore on his forearms. These gauntlets were one of the very core things behind MABURAHO and was something that Kazuki only used in last resort, due to its power. It was very experimental but it made Kazuki a true hybrid between a mage and a normal soldier.

With all of his equipment ready and his MDAM barrier activated, Kazuki was ready to move out. He checked his weapons and then took cover, waiting until night completely fell before making his move.

--

Carefully sneaking around the dorms, Yuna Miyama carefully looked for room 228. The reason why the pink haired girl was sneaking around was because this was a boy's dorm and she was certain she wasn't allowed. The reason why she was sneaking around a boy's dorm was because of a person she dearly wanted to see.

And do other stuff too…

So that was why she was walking around a male dorm, carrying a suitcase as well as a broom. Oh, and the broom was for cleaning the room of that dear person she wanted to see.

"Kazuki-san…."

She blushed and held her cheeks as she began daydreaming about her beloved. For over 10 years, she only thought of Shikimori Kazuki, and for 10 years she longed after him. And finally, today was the day they would meet again. And then….

She suddenly thought something that made her blush even more.

Finally, she reached the room with Kazuki's name written on it. Yuna squealed in delight and opened the door. After quickly checking that nobody was around, she said to herself

"As Kazuki-san's future wife, I must work hard! For Kazuki-san…"

Then she sat waiting for her beloved.

--

Somewhere in the city, Kazuki checked his watch. It was almost time for his mission. He quickly grabbed his weapons, took a gulp of water from his canteen, and prepared to sneak in the old warehouse before him.

Within moments, he had changed from a normal school boy to an elite soldier ready for combat. His movements were graceful and coordinated. His eyes were always on the lookout for potential targets. He was careful, and never let his guard down. He kept his emotions in check, and all traces of his civilian side was gone and replaced by the steel nerves of a professional soldier. He was a perfect killing machine.

At 2300 hours, under the cover of the night, he snuck over to the entrance. He peeked around the corner and saw that there were 2 guards. They wore normal clothing and had side arms strapped to their waist. Definitely not mages. They were busy smoking and chatting. Kazuki took that time to pull out his pistol and attach a silencer; the best one money could buy. Now was not time for subtlety. He aimed and squeezed the trigger twice. There were 2 muffled shots. He quickly dashed forward and caught the bodies before they fell to the ground. He looked around and checked twice that nobody saw him nor heard the muffled shots. He dragged both of the bodies to the shadows and hid them. A clean-up crew would come later and take all the bodies, as well as remove evidence of him. Otherwise, he was safe, unless a guard happened upon the bodies. Unlikely.

He raised a hand to his helmet and activated the electronic map inside his helmet computer. On the blue visor, he saw an image of the building's floor plan. Satisfied, he turned off the map and carefully opened the entrance door. He sneaked through the old, crumbling hallways undetected. As he quietly moved from hallway to hallway, he continued to check the map. He was to infiltrate the building and reach the first storage facility before actively engaging and taking out the radical group, which consisted of at least 100 or so members. Along the way, he dropped strange brown blocks on the floor.

Finally, he came to the first storage facility. He checked under the door using a fiber optic wire. There was a group of people, armed with guns there. He pulled out his rifle and got ready. He quietly and slowly opened the door. He was undetected. Kazuki slowly sneaked up behind a canister and got his rifle ready. As he was moving though, one of the men there saw him move and immediately started shouting something. It was obvious he wasn't a member of their organization.

Immediately, the group pulled out weapons while two mages prepared a magic spell. Kazuki fired a few bursts. 3 guys were taken down before they had a chance to retaliate. The others began firing. Kazuki ducked behind his cover. One of the mages activated a magical barrier to protect the people while the other let loose a blast of blue fire. Normally, a magic spell would have blasted through his cover and hit him, but Kazuki wouldn't let it. The magic spell was pretty fast, but not faster than a bullet. He looked up and fired a round straight through. The AM-R immediately dispersed the magic blast and reduced it to little more than sparks. Then he focused his attention onto the mages. He squeezed off another few bursts and hit the mage creating the barrier. The mage was surprised and looked at him in shock as the bullets had gone through his barrier like it wasn't there and struck him. He fell to the ground. Before anyone could say something, the next mage was down. Without any magical support, the remaining men panicked and fired randomly.

Kazuki easily took them down with a few controlled bursts. He secured the area, reloaded his weapon and continued on. He came up to a stairwell and began climbing up, knowing that there was only 2 floors. As he came to the second floor, there were more people, alarmed by the gunshots. Magic spells and bullets flew at Kazuki, who continued to fire. Bullets pinged off his MDAM barrier and magic spells blew up at coming into contact with the barrier. Kazuki fired until his rifle clicked. He knew he had run out of bullets. He retreated backward, and reloaded his rifle. After slamming a fresh clip, he primed a grenade and tossed it into the midst of the crowd. Several unlucky ones were blown to pieces. Some of the mages had managed to erect a barrier at the last moment.

Of course, their barriers could do nothing against his Anti-magic rounds.

When all of them were dead, Kazuki dashed through the hallway once more, his rifle at the ready. He came to many more firefights, but the men never stood a chance against him. But he knew even he could not just sit there all night and shoot down all his enemies. He fought his way through the hallways and came upon the one where he knew the leader of the group would be located. His office was there, according to his Intel. As he turned down another corner, a man popped up and fired a shotgun at point blank range.

BAM! Kazuki was sent back as his MDAM barrier struggled to withstand the impact. He grimaced and quickly fired back a burst. The man was caught on his shoulder and chest and fell. Kazuki collapsed to the ground and struggled to catch his breath. The bullets had broken through the barrier, but thanks to his barrier and his AMP armor, he was still living. He took a few deep breaths and regained his composure. This wasn't the first time he was shot during a mission. At least this time, the bullets didn't puncture his skin, but they did give him one hell of a punch.

Suddenly, he heard the thundering of hundreds of footsteps. He knew he had to hurry and achieve his objective before more reinforcements came. He slowly stood up and made his way down the hall. At the end, he reached a door leading into an office. Kazuki sensed that the door was protected by a barrier. He raised his right arm out of his own weakened barrier and placed his gauntlet covered hand against the door. The character etched into his gauntlet shone brightly for a moment and a bright light briefly blinded him. The barrier on the door immediately broke down. One of the many things the gauntlet contained was a barrier-breaking technology, one of the pinnacles of understanding the mysterious force of magic. Dispelling magic without using magic was not an easy task, but several mages and scientists had worked for many hard years on understanding magic. They still didn't, but they could at least nullify the magic with enough energy, which his gauntlet did. Over flood the barrier with such enormour electrical energy that it obtained the peculiar property of cancelling out magical energy. Of course, it required an enormous amount of power, which was why Kazuki could only use it a few times each day. Researchers still didn't understand why enormous amounts of electrical energy could dispel a proportional amount of magic energy; all they knew was that it could. Pretty much all inventions involving both science and magic were purely accidental.

With the barrier on the door removed, Kazuki brought his rifle up and kicked in the door before sweeping inside. He encountered a tall man with short brown hair sitting at his desk smiling.

"I was wondering when you would get here. I wondered who they would send to get my artifact, but I didn't expect it to be someone other than the famous Magic Brigade." The man said in a mocking tone. "I suppose you're here to kill me?"

Kazuki replied in a dull tone "Hand over the magic artifact now, and I will ensure that you will survive through the night at the very least. If you value your life, hand it over now."

"Well, you see, I went through quite a lot of trouble to acquire this here." The man produced a small blue crystal "I wouldn't want to have to make all that effort go into waste. So I'm afraid I can't comply."

He raised his hand holding the blue crystal and said with an evil grin "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you live. You've done well."

Suddenly the crystal shone brightly with blue light and a beam of blue magic energy fired at him. Kazuki immediately brought up his rifle and fired continuously into the beam. The blue magic was immediately dispersed as AM-Rs tore through it.

"What the hell?" The man looked in surprise. Kazuki stepped forward and pulled out his pistol against the man's head. He froze.

"Stealing a magical artifact like Merlock's crystal, which allows you to cast 3 spells from one magic attempt and using that artifact to attack unarmed and nonthreatening people….it's things like this I can't stand." Kazuki emotionlessly intoned and squeezed the trigger. The anti-magic round tore through the man's head. Blood, bits of skull, and brains splattered everywhere.

Kazuki reached forward and took the blue crystal from the man's head. He secured it inside a compartment of his armor. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching the door. He kicked the desk and blocked the door, giving him some time. He reached into one of the equipment pouches in his armor and dropped a few more of the brown colored blocks, which in reality, was powerful explosives, ready to blow once Kazuki gave the signal. He pulled out a rope from his armor, and tied it around his waist and to a chair in the office.

He rappelled out of the office, using the chair to hold his weight on the rope. He rappelled straight down the side of the warehouse. He quickly reached the ground and untied the rope. He quickly jogged back to the alleyway where his duffel bag was. With amazing speed, he tore off his armor and changed back into his school uniform.

Within moments, he had turned from an elite soldier to a normal school kid. As the organization members whirred about in confusion, Kazuki was already running away, hoping to get away as far as possible. After 2 minutes of full all-out sprinting, he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a detonator. He clicked the top.

_Boom._

A massive explosion tore through the night sky and completely engulfed the warehouse. Each block that he had dropped was filled with powerful explosives enhanced by magic. At the signal, all of 8 that he dropped had exploded, completely destroying the organization. Fire burned the sky as debris rocketed all over the place. His mission was now complete. He had retrieved the stolen artifact, which he would give to Dr. Haruaki who would turn in the artifact. The cleanup crew would clean up the site, remove all evidence as well as create a cover-up of a gas explosion. Mission complete.

Kazuki then made his way home, trying to make it seem like he was just out doing some fun activity. It was important that he attempt to maintain a low profile and act as a normal teenager would. The elite soldier unit had suddenly reverted to a normal high school student, something that would astonish most people. He briskly walked back home. Little did he know what awaited him back at his dorm…

-

Sometime later, Kazuki finally made his way back home. He snuck pass the dormitory caretaker, Karei Hirosaki, who would always wear a funeral dress. She wore a pair of glasses and spent her time cleaning. She was quite strict on staying out too late. Kazuki, climbed up the stairs and walked to his room, located on the end of the hall.

He opened the door, dropped his bag, and prepared to collapse onto his bed. But the problem was, there was already someone on it.

A girl with long pink hair lay on his bed, snoring gently. Kazuki blinked. Then blinked again. He back stepped out the door and checked to see if he was in the right room. There, his name was displayed. He stepped back in. He saw the girl laying on the bed. He blinked once more. It was about that time, Yuna woke up. She had fallen asleep as she waited for Kazuki to return.

"Mmm…." She groaned as she sat up. Then she saw Kazuki. He blinked. She blinked. And then suddenly, completely surprising him, she leapt onto him, squealing like a fan girl on crack while reading a fan fiction on their favorite yaoi pair. "KAZUKI-SAN!!"

As Kazuki was glomped, he fell back to the ground. For a moment, he just stared, completely lost at what to do. He had been trained to use thousands of weapons, be in thousands of combat situations, but he had never been trained on what to do if a girl suddenly appeared in his room, jump him, and squeal loudly like some baby pig. Needless to say, he was _very_ confused.

"I finally found you, Kazuki-san!"

"Ummm…excuse me, but who are you?" The girl was taken aback by this statement and tears began forming in her eyes.

"How could you forget your own wife? It's me, Miyama Yuna!" she cried. Kazuki was still dumbfounded. Since when has he met this crazy girl? And since when was he married?

"Umm…I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person." He muttered and leapt off the ground and ran out his room, still being chased by the pink haired girl who moaned piteously. Suddenly, in front of him was a blonde haired girl with a gorgeous body and beautiful face. At seeing Kazuki, she started unbuttoning her shirt in a seductive manner. A _very_ seductive manner.

"Come on Shikimori Kazuki…." She whispered in his ears "the night is still young…"

Kazuki recognized her as Kazetsubaki Kuriko, a popular girl with plenty of magical ability. She was a girl at his school. Though why she was coming on to him when she had never so much as looked at him before was strange. But it was definitely_ good_.

"Won't you come over and play…" she pouted. Any guy would have melted right then and there. But then, someone else entered the picture….

A blue haired girl dressed in traditional Japanese clothing with a katana in her hand. She looked very pissed as she glared at Kazuki. She glared at him for a while before finally saying "I can't believe I must marry this trash. There is no way I will ever marry him, even if I must kill him to get out of it!"

She charged forward, wielding her sword. Immediately, Kazuki's soldier instincts kicked in, but before he could do anything, Kuriko and Yuna stepped in.

"Kazuki-san! Don't you remember your wife?"

"Come on, Kazuki, let me get those genes of yours!"

"Die!"

Kazuki was suddenly being pulled on three sides from three pretty girls, all of whom apparently really wanted him. Well except for one of them who wanted to kill him. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you want with me?"

All three looked at him strangely and in unison they said

"To be your wife!"

TBC

A/N – Finally finished. I know there might be plenty of questions, and it's pretty confusing but please bear with me. It's my first fic, so it might be quite a bit confusing. If any plot holes, please tell me so I can fix them. Oh by the way, Project MABURAHO will be explored in depth. Though its pretty confusing…. (does anybody have any idea what maburaho means in japanese??) The reason why I chose to do a Maburaho fic was….well….the fact that I loved the series, it didn't have a lot of stories in the section, and plus I always liked the idea of Kazuki being some overly powerful being. Plus, I've been playing way too many FPS games lately. Kinda why I added all the guns. I'll go more in-depth later. I'll also try to improve my writing. Oh, and my thanks to my buddy who helped me write the damn thing, gave me most of the ideas, and pretty much rewrote my poor piss excuse of a "final draft." That pretty much changed my entire story around, so it's a lot better than before.

Any tips/suggestions/comments/reviews would be helpful.


	2. Chapter 2

Shikimori Kazuki had always been the silent type of guy. He was always quiet in class, never liked to talk too much, and spent most of his days in his room. He was very reserved, unlike the rest of his class, who were all loud and rowdy. Kazuki liked his solitude, because it allowed him to accomplish his missions without too much interference.

So why the hell were there suddenly 3 girls all over him?

He pondered to himself as he tried to figure out what had changed in his life. He had no idea what had brought this upon him.

Miyama Yuna, a cute pink-haired girl with a nice body. She was extremely cheerful, and always clinging onto Kazuki. He didn't know why, but apparently she got it in her head that she was Kazuki's wife, something that he was sure he never had or will never get.

Kazetsubaki Kuriko, a sexy blond who was one of the hottest girls at school and came from one of the wealthiest families in the world. She apparently wanted him for his genes and was willing to go to any length to get it.

Kamishiro Rin, a dark haired girl who was a competent swordswoman, and came from the branch family of the wealthy Kamishiros. She was also quite well known at his school. She was very dignified and reserved , and seemed revolted at having to get Kazuki's genes. Rin looked as if she would rather kill him than marry him.

Now all three of them were bickering over him, yelling about who should get either him, his genes, or his severed head on a platter.

Poor Kazuki was very confused.

"I'm his wife!" Yuna yelled.

"I need his genes!" Kuriko yelled.

"Let me at him! I'll kill him in one blow!" Rin cried as she was held back by Yuna and Kuriko who were yelling at each other.

"Ummm...I'll just go now..." Kazuki slowly edged away from the scene, but immediately, the girl's attention turned to him.

"Not so fast!" Kuriko said and grabbed him by collar of his shirt and dragged him back in the middle of the fight "Now decide! Do you want her?" she motioned toward Yuna "Her?" she motioned to Rin "or me?" she indicated herself in a seductive manner as she winked at him and began to undress...

"Hey! That's not fair!" Yuna yelled and butted in between the two. "Kazuki-san!"

"Ummm...ummm..." he looked for a way to get out of this predicament. Unlike other guys, who would have killed to be in this situation, Kazuki was very uncomfortable. Then he saw the opening to escape. "I'll decide in the morning!"

He made a break for it. Surprising the girls, he dashed straight back to his room, locked the door, and threw himself under the covers. The girls, flabbergasted, sat in the hallway and blinked.

"Errr...I'll just...come back tomorrow..." the girls weakly said and left on their own separate ways.

-

Kazuki awoke with a start at the annoying bleeping of his hated alarm clock. He groaned and hit the off button. After grumbling some incoherent words, he got out of his bed and got dressed for school. He had spent half the night, fearing that one of the girls would sneak into his room and...do stuff...

When he was finally ready to go to school, he grabbed his backpack as well as the duffel bag containing his equipment and the result of last night's mission. After locking his room behind him, Kazuki quickly ran out the dorm, shouted a greeting to the caretaker, and walked his way back to school.

He arrived to class as usual, and went straight to his seat. The rest of the class ignored him, which was just how Kazuki liked it. He settled into his relaxed position, resting his hands on his palms. His thoughts settled on those girls he met yesterday. He wondered if they could have mistook him for someone else...

Immersed in his thoughts, Kazuki didn't pay much attention to the sounds of conversation that surrounded him or what was the topic. If he listened just a little more closely...

"Did you hear? We're getting a new student in our class today!"

"I heard that she was _really_ cute!"

"Maybe I should ask her out you know!"

Leading the conversation was Nakamaru, who was grinning avidly as he quite loudly talked about the supposed new hot girl. However, all the conversation ceased as their homeroom teacher entered the room. Kaori Iba, the female teacher of 2-A was a game enthusiast and could be caught playing video games on her portable system every second of class, even if she was in the middle of teaching. She was quite laid back and did little to discipline the rowdy 2-A, as she was so busy playing her video games.

"I'm sure you all heard by now..." Iba-sensei said in her usual tired morning tone "that we have a new student today. So please don't act like idiots now and make our class look at least a little behaved?"

"Hai, Sensei!"

The usual reply came and Iba sighed. She knew that they would be as rowdy as ever. Shaking her head, she indicated for figure from outside of the door to come in. The door slid open. Kazuki's jaw dropped.

It was Miyama Yuuna, the pink haired girl from yesterday. She was wearing his school's uniform. And she was wearing a giant grin as she noticed Kazuki.

"Well introduce yourself." Iba-sensei said and motioned toward the chalkboard. Yuuna walked up to it and grabbed a piece of chalk.

"My name is Miyama Yuuna...ah no wait..." she stopped writing in her name and then wiped it off with the blackboard eraser "My name is Shikimori Yuuna. I'm Shikimori Kazuki's wife!"

There was sudden gasp and a dead quiet as all the heads in the class turned toward Kazuki, who's mouth was still wide open from the shock of seeing Yuuna in his class.

It was quite for a moment and then all hell broke.

"HOW THE HELL DID A LOSER LIKE YOU GET A WIFE LIKE THAT?" Someone shouted.

"I reject this marriage! This marriage is unacceptable by the class!" Kazuki snorted at that comment. As if this class had a say in his life, though he did sort of think the marriage was unacceptable. He was only a student.

"You bastard! What kind of trick did you pull on that girl? You cheater!" Nakamaru yelled and seemed to want to strangle him.

"As the whole class voted, this marriage is deemed unacceptable!" One of the males shouted. The rest all agreed. The females in the class seem to be more interested in how Kazuki got married to this Yuuna, while the males were busy trying to break them up.

"OI QUIET!" Iba-sensei yelled. She was ignored.

Suddenly, the doors to the classroom slid open once again. Two more girls ran in, this time it was Kuriko and Rin. Kuriko ran in, looked around, and noticed Yuuna and pointed at her.

"That's unfair! I'm transferring to his class too! Kazuki is MINE!" Kuriko shouted and then turned to Kazuki. "Ne, Kazuki?"

She winked and lifted her skirt out a little. All the guys in the class, as well as a few girls fainted.

Rin seemed pissed "This is annoying. All this Shikimori does is to make trouble. And now I have to move to his class?"

"Wait, why is Kazetsubaki-san and Kamishiro-san here?" someone shouted as they noticed the two newcomers.

"Well isn't that obvious." Kuriko said and sashayed her way up to Kazuki and sat on his desk and crossed her long slender legs. She winked at him "I'm here to have his children."

"Me too..." Rin bitterly muttered, reluctant to say it. She glared at Kazuki as if he was some unwanted stray dog who just marked his territory on her foot.

"I'm his wife!" Yuuna said cheerfully as she giddily hugged Kazuki from behind. Kazuki was completely lost; he had no idea what to do.

Dead silence reigned in the room. And then it erupted in a mass of shouting.

"SHIKIMORI! YOU BASTARD!"

"Not only the new girl, but Kazetsubaki and Kamishiro too!"

"No way, how could they fall for such a useless person like that."

"Kill him! Kill!"

The class seemed ready to kill him. At sensing the murderous intents, Kazuki immediately shifted into his soldier mode. His hand flickered toward the hidden combat knife made of Anti-Magic metal hidden in his clothes. As one of the jealous males and certain female fans of either Kuriko or Rin seemed to prepare a magic spell, Kazuki began to pull it out...

Then, Dr. Haruaki Akai stepped in the classroom. That's what probably saved Kazuki from massacring the entire class. Dr. Akai seemed to know what Kazuki was doing as he looked at Kazuki witheringly. Almost as soon as everyone noticed his presence, they all quieted down. He always held a commanding authority over all students.

"Calm down, everybody. I can explain this." Dr. Akai said and motioned toward Kazuki and the 3 girls who was now attempting to seduce him. "They're here after his genes."

"His genes?" one of the students asked.

"Yes, Shikimori Kazuki comes from a long line of powerful western and eastern magicians. All of his ancestors were once the strongest mages in the world. And that magical power is hereditary. That power has been passed down to Kazuki. Though he may not have much magic attempts, his genes carry the most powerful magic in the world. It's possible that he may bear a child with power beyond anything ever imagined. I'm guessing the Kazetsubaki, Kamishiro, and Miyama families, all very prominent, realized this and sent their daughters to secure a place as Shikimori-kun's wife so they may have powerful children with his genes." Dr. Akai said and looked at Kuriko, who nodded along with Rin. The rest of the class gaped.

"So you're saying..." a red-haired female asked dumbstruck "that Kazuki's children will be the most powerful mages on Earth?"

"Correct."

There was another moment of dead quiet before suddenly, all of the females in the class turned on Kazuki and grinned.

"KAZUKI-SAN! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!" They all shouted. Within an instant, Shikimori was surrounded with all of the girls, all of whom who never had so much as talked with him before.

One of the most desired things these day was powerful magic. Everyone wanted more of it, from normal students to the governments of each country. And when someone's genes had great magic potential, such as Kazuki, they were bound to be lucky with all the females.

As Kazuki was mobbed by lots of girls and surrounded by hordes of angry guys, he sent one look towards Dr. Akai, who understood immediately.

Dr.Akai's calm voice echoed through the room. "I'm sorry, but I would like to see Kazuki in my moment for a moment. Alone."

Immediately, the noise died down. All of the girls, including Kuriko, Rin and Yuuna, parted and allowed Kazuki to grab his bag and walked out of the room. But they gave him looks as if they were starving wolves glaring at a piece of raw meat.

Kazuki and Dr. Akai walked quietly and slowly through the hallways, as groups of curious students peered at them. They quickly arrived at the school doctor's office and entered. Almost immediately, Dr. Akai placed a barrier on the room.

"To keep out any eavesdroppers." Dr. Akai plainly stated. At that exact moment, nearly everyone from Kazuki's class was outside the room, trying to listen in.

Kazuki turned on Dr. Akai "How did they find out about my genes? I thought that was confidential information."

"It is." Dr. Akai said "Anything that pertains to you was deleted once you were conscripted into Project MABURAHO. There should be no way they found out about that."

"So now what?" Kazuki glared at Dr. Akai, who shrugged.

"If three such prominent families discovered your background, than it is certain other rich families and eventually the public will have found out as well. At this point, you will be surrounded by nearly every female in this city." Dr. Akai said, as he turned on his laptop computer.

"That is bad. This could get in the way of future missions." Kazuki stated emotionlessly.

"I wish you'd stop focusing on your missions. You should enjoy such an opportunity, as long as Project MABURAHO isn't discovered." Dr. Akai sighed. Kazuki was way too serious for someone of his age. Despite the fact that he could put on a believable performance as an high school boy, he was completely business once he no longer had to put on a mask for the public. "In the worst case, you'll have to be returned to HQ and live there instead of the civilian world. I know its less suspicious if you could maintain the image of a normal teenager, but it'll become difficult at this rate."

"Whichever way is fine." Kazuki said and handed him the duffel bag containing the final results of last night's mission. "But I am a weapon to be used of and disposed. Do not expect me to keep this disguise up. I am a soldier and always will be until I die."

With that, Kazuki left the room. Dr. Akai sighed. It was he who suggested that Kazuki go undercover as a normal high school student. He had hoped that Kazuki would get a chance to experience a normal life and maybe escape the inevitable ending for him. He hoped that the soldier would lose his hard outer emotional armor and learn to live life peacefully. It seemed he expected too much.

Dr. Akai reached into a hidden compartment under his desk and pulled out a bottle of liquor. Alcohol wasn't allowed in school, but he didn't give a damn. He downed the drink, and felt the soothing affects of alcohol, just like he did everyday...

--

Kazuki didn't bother to return to the classroom as he slammed the door open; his grades might be lowered but its not like he ever gave a damn about them anyway. Eavesdroppers squeaked and scurried around. He stormed through the hallways and quickly arrived at the exit to the school. He felt like returning to his room in his dorm and relaxing on his bed.

He'd preferred to return to the hidden base where he first trained in the beginning of Project MABURAHO. This whole nonsense of maintaining a high school life made no sense to him. There would be no need to live a disguise if he could just disappear forever and without a trace. Then he would go on suicide mission after mission until he finally died, something he knew would absolutely happen. It was what Project MABURAHO was after all.

As he marched across the grounds, he suddenly heard the voice of Miyama Yuuna echo from across the grounds.

"Kazuki-san!" She ran toward him, soon followed by Kuriko and Rin. Kazuki turned toward them, his expression hard. She finally reached him "Kazuki-san!"

"What is it that you want from me?" Kazuki coldly said. His dark eyes made Yuuna flinch as she stared at him.

"Where are you going?" Yuuna asked back, as she entered a staring competition with Kazuki's glare. His cold, unyielding eyes against her determined eye.

He didn't answer her but instead said "If it is my genes that you want, then I'm afraid you won't have it. You better leave and go back home if all you care about is getting my genes."

"But that's not..."

"Don't lie to me!" Kazuki sharply retorted. Kuriko and Rin caught up by now and for once, stood there listening to the exchange between to two, their expressions slightly softened.

"But I'm not! Don't you remember me? From all those years ago! We made a promise! I promised that I would be your bride." Yuuna said through teary eyes. Kazuki glared at her. How dare she tell such an blatant lie? For all he could remember, his entire life was to be a soldier. He had no other memories than of harsh training, suicidal missions, and killing.

"I would never make such a promise." Kazuki said, his tone now like the edge of steel "For me, there is no such thing as love. I have no desire to be anyone's wife or have any children. If that's all you came here for, then leave here and get out of my sight! I don't want see anyone who would lie to me like that just to get my genes!"

Tears fell unstopped from Yuuna's eyes, but her voice was set with determination. "Fine then. I'll leave you and never return." Grabbing the jewel necklace from around her neck, she tore it off and threw it at Kazuki. Then she turned on her heel and stormed off.

"Kazuki..." for once, both Kuriko and Rin looked at Kazuki with faces of...what? Fear? Disgust? Disappointment?

But that was the least bit of his worries. He stooped down and picked up the fallen necklace. He grabbed it in his hands and examined it. He was certain that he never met Yuuna before. But why was this necklace so familiar? As he looked at it, random images flashed through his mind, each one appearing and disappearing so fast he never had a chance to truly see it before it disappeared. Why did this necklace seem to bring something back for him?

The soldier was experiencing several emotions, some that he had never felt before. And following that was the overwhelming urge to chase after this girl. Who was she? And why did she seem to know him? Was she perhaps a part of his misty past that he no longer remembered? Whoever she was, he knew he had to do one thing.

He started running after her. Kuriko and Rin shouted after him, but he was far too fast for them to catch on foot. He ran as fast as he could, which was extremely quick. He dashed through thick crowds of people and dodged through traffic, trying to track down wherever Miyama Yuuna was.

The elite soldier found her walking across an overpass. She was still crying and kept wiping away her tears from her eyes using her arms. Kazuki immediately darted up the stairs and arrived at the overpass. She didn't notice him. He quickly ran over to her and just as he got behind her, she turned around.

"What do you want? I thought you never wanted to see me." her eyes were both saddened and angry.

"You dropped this." Kazuki held out a necklace, the one that she had torn off from her neck.

"I don't need it." She turned quickly and prepared to run off, but Kazuki's hand stopped her. He grabbed on to her shoulder tightly and whispered softly.

"You do need it."

"No, I don't. You don't remember what this stands for. You don't remember our promise. And you don't want anything to do with me. I don't need it." a fresh wave of tears erupted from Yuuna's eyes. For some reason, Kazuki also felt like crying along with her. He quickly banished the feeling. A professional soldier like him had no room for emotions.

"I'm sure this necklace means something to you and me. I'm sorry about earlier. I'm sorry that I forgot whatever had happened between us. But whatever it is that I forgot, I hope that you can remind me. That is why I need you to have this necklace, so that I never forget precious memories again." the heart-shaped jewel on the necklace sparkled momentarily. Kazuki wondered where the words coming out of his mouth came from. He vaguely recalled actually saying them. It was as if _something_ was speaking for him, because the uncharacteristic words were certainly things he would never have said. It was as if some unknown infinite force was _making_ him say it.

Yuuna turned around, this time with a slight glint of happiness in her eyes. "So that means you accept me as your wife?"

"Tell me what we promised." Kazuki avoided her question. He knew what the answer was and whatever force was compelling him to speak now forced him not to reveal the truth to the girl.

She smiled and put on the necklace around her neck once more. "Ok..."

-11 Years Ago-

"Ne, why are you crying?" A six-year old Kazuki approached a 6 year old Yuuna, who was crying. The two were standing on a bridge with a small river beneath it, in which Yuuna's tears were falling into.

"Because...my family is moving...a-and...I have to s-say g-goodbye to my h-home." Yuuna managed to say through her tears. She didn't even bother to turn around and look at the boy standing behind her.

"I see..." the boy said, his expression worried.

"W-w-who are y-you?" Her tears never ceased even as she turned to look at the boy.

"Me? I'm Shikimori Kazuki, the Greatest Magician in the World!" The boy proudly declared and puffed his chest out in pride.

"the Greatest Magician in the World..." The girl's tears ceased momentarily as she gazed at the boy in wonder. Being so young, she wasn't quite as skeptic as people older than her. She believed everything that she was told. "Really?"

"Yeah! I can perform any type of magic and make any miracle happen!" Kazuki declared and waved his arms around dramatically. The 6 year old boy grinned, which somehow made Yuuna feel relaxed.

"Then...then cast a spell so that I can stay here and not move." Hope gleamed in her eyes as she expected him to chant words and then magically, she would be able to stay here with her family and friends without having to move.

The boy seemed saddened and hung his head"I can't do that."

The 6 year old girl felt like crying again. Her last hope was gone and now she had to move. The two stood in silence for a while. The boy looked embarrassed and Yuuna was staring at him, holding back her hot tears.

Then another wish came to her. "Then, since you can't grant that wish, will you grant me two more?"

The boy lit up suddenly and he nodded his head enthusiastically while saying "You betcha!"

"Then do this for me..." her face slightly red, she leaned forward and whispered into the boy's ear. His face slightly blushed to and then Yuuna leaned back.

"I can do it!" Kazuki raised his hands and suddenly, a small flash of blue light glowed from his hands. The temperature in the air decreased and small white flakes starting falling from the sky.

Yuuna looked around in amazement as hundreds and hundreds of snowflakes fell in an graceful and beautiful dance. All around her, were small miniature flakes, each one delicate and beautiful. She spun on the spot, looking all around at the snowflakes falling like the cherry blossoms she and her parents would go see every spring. She opened her tongue and let a few flakes land on it, enjoying the frostiness.

It was an amazing scene, with snow falling in broad daylight during the summer. The boy stood, focusing his magical power while the girl danced along with the falling snowflakes, which flowed all around her.

For what seemed an eternity, the snow fell and the girl moved with it. Then finally, the boy let his hands drop and along with it, the flow of snowflakes stopped. The girl had red cheeks and was smiling ear to ear. She was happy. More happy than she could ever remember being so. The two young children looked at each other and laughed. They were only children, enjoying their days.

"Mr. Greatest Magician in the World, will you grant my second wish?"

"Yes, my lady."

"The please listen." The girl leaned forward and once again whispered in the boy's ear. The boy blushed as he heard her wish. Then the girl lightly brushed her lips against the young boy's cheek in a symbol of friendship or perhaps affection.

The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small necklace with a heart-shaped jewel set in the center. He gave it to the girl and smiled. It was a gift from his deceased parents, one of the few heirlooms they left. But he never really cared for it, as he thought that it wasn't worth much. Still, he carried it around wherever he went.

"I'll be back in a few years for my wish, so wait for me, ne?" the girl said, as her parents eventually came and picked her up. She was wearing the necklace around her neck. As the car drove away she waved her hand and yelled toward the 6 year old boy, who was running toward her waving his goodbyes.

"Wait for me, Kazuki-san! I'll come back one day."

-End Flashback-

Kazuki stared at the pink haired girl before her. He did have a vague feeling of recognition. Perhaps he did make that promise she had just told him about. Maybe he did. But that was in a different life now. Those days seemed so long ago, that he could of sworn that it was one of his past lives or something, rather than the present.

"Is that...so?" Kazuki muttered after a long awkward silence. Yuuna nodded.

"So you wished for me to create snow for you? But that does not explain why you had to come back or why you claim to be my wife." Kazuki said. Yuuna shook her head.

"Remember that other promise I told you about? The one I would get in a few years?"

"Yeah?"

Yuuna giggled and leaned toward Kazuki's ear and whispered. Goosebumps spread all over Kazuki's skin as the incredibly cute girl's voice seem to strike a hidden spot in his heart that he thought had long since frozen over.

"You promised that once I grew up, I would be your bride."

Kazuki's eyes widened. For a moment, he pondered what it would be like to have a married life. What would it be like? Waking up in the morning to having a lovely wife in the kitchen cooking. After a kiss, he would go off to work. Then he would return home to see his wife, waiting dutifully and patiently at the door for him. They could start a family, and live a peaceful life.

As tempting as it was for him, he knew it could never happen. His life was not governed by choice. He didn't have the illusion of free will. The moment he was born, he was marked. Marked to be what he was now. There was no other way for him.

The two stared at each other, separated by only a few feet. There was silence in the air as tension built up between them. What should he say now? What could he say? Kazuki decided that he would avoid any type of response that would hurt the girl's feelings. After all, he had standing orders to protect civilians, especially those who belonged to prestigious families. It would be dangerous if the girl were to start crying again and run off like before.

"It's getting late. Shall we go back?" Kazuki said, and offered her his hand. Yuuna looked at it and squealed.

"You...w-want to hold hands?" she asked shyly.

"Just until we get back. It's dangerous for a girl to be walking through the city alone." Kazuki said, averting his eyes. Just what was it about this girl that made him act all...nervous?

Yuuna smiled as happiness seemed to fill all of her body, all the way to the fingertips. "Hai!"

The two, after a short pause, walked back together, holding hands as if they were a couple. Unbeknown to them, a cloaked figure crouched in the branch of a tree, observing them through a pair of old-fashioned binoculars. He had activated a charm for active camouflage, and was now completely invisible. His presence was hidden so well, that not even the most well-trained wizard could find him if they should stand but a yard from him. It took a certain level of mage to locate him, and Shikimori certainly did not have that level without his equipment.

The man checked the surroundings for anyone who was nearby. Satisfied that the area was clear, he quickly thumbed his comm set.

"This is Blue one. Shikimori Kazuki's identity has not been revealed. He is cleared for his next mission." The cloaked figure whispered softly.

"Roger that, Blue one. Good work. Return to base. Blue two, you are clear to send the package to the target." a female voice came from the comm set.

"Acknowledged." another voice, probably Blue two. Blue one shut off his comm set and quickly but silently returned to the secret base. There was no danger of Project MABURAHO being unearthed yet. But how long could Kazuki keep the secret, especially when he was about to go on one of his toughest missions ever?

--

_Hidden under the cover of a bush and the night sky, Kazuki zero'd his sniper rifle, which was to calibrate it at the proper range. Wearing a camouflage. He was almost completely undetectable, even by magic due to an array of charms placed under the jacket of his BDU. Located right next to him was his partner. The two of them composed the two-man sniper team. Both of them were subjects from MABURAHO._

"_Target sighted." A quiet female voice came flowed through Kazuki's headset. She was his spotter in this initial part of the mission. He replied with "Acknowledged."_

_His mission was to infiltrate the rebel camp and neutralize all of its leaders. The third world country they were in was in the middle of a bloody rebellion, in which the weak government was under constant hit-and-run attacks by the guerilla forces. The nations of the world were scared that the old regime may actually be overthrown and replaced by the a new government led by the rebels. This was unacceptable; the country was rich in natural resources._

_In other words, the countries were more worried about what would happen to their economies rather than the hundreds of lives lost in the crossfire. The truth of the world._

_That's why they were called in, to assassinate the rebel leader and stop the rebellion cold._

_Patrolling the camp was several guards, who were only half-awake at this hour. Kazuki squeezed his trigger, making sure to squeeze backwards with the ball of his fingers and a silence muffled shot brought down one of the patrolling guards. Kazuki immediately ejected spent brass and chambered a round. His sniper was fitted with a smart scope, which would calculate all of the necessary factors for sniping, such as wind, altitude, distance, and several other key factors that he would need in order to remain undetected._

_Two more suppressed shots fired, and simultaneously, two more guards collapsed to the ground. Kazuki's spotter quickly located his next target, and Kazuki would immediately set his crosshairs on it. Within moments, nearly all of the patrolling men and guards were downed. They were still undetected, but that was until someone discovered the bodies._

"_Initiate Alpha maneuver." Kazuki whispered. He handed the sniper rifle over to his partner, who made some minor adjustments, such as removing the suppressor from the barrel. It was essential that she draw fire to herself. Kazuki instead took his assault rifle from the ground next to him, and checked his weapon._

"_Cover me, I'm moving out." Kazuki silently crouched and ran down the hill toward the enemy encampment under the cover of night. His partner covered him with the sniper rifle._

_He reached into his backpack and pulled out several bombs, which he set at the edge of the encampment, just out of sight. After leaving several explosives behind, he silently made his way to a nearby camp, making sure to flatten himself against the ground._

_It was late at night, so mostly everyone should be asleep with the exception of the now dead guards. He crawled, prone, all the way to the barracks, where he carefully placed a Claymore Anti-personnel mine. All around the camp, he placed several of the mines, until he used his last one. At that, he got up into a crouching position, and swiftly ran all the way to the tent located near the center of the camp. _

_According to the intel gathered from a satellite, the leader's tent was this one. Kazuki raised a pair of thermal goggles, which easily saw through the tent. There was only one source of heat in the tent, which came from the sleeping form of a man on a cot._

_Kazuki opened the tent flap and carefully walked in with his assault rifle raised. He slowly walked toward the cot on which the man was sleeping on. He pulled out his sidearm and roughly shook the man awake._

_As the rebel leader awoke and opened his eyes, he saw the barrel of a pistol staring him down. His eyes widened but he didn't dare make a sound as his mind worked itself into panic._

"_Now, I need you to answer my questions. Give me a good answer, and I'll won't kill you. If you try to alert your men, I'll kill you" Kazuki quietly whispered in fluent English. _

_The man answered in an accented, barely understandable English. "You must be crazy. You can never get out of here alive."_

"_Oh I have my ways." Kazuki replied "but you'll see that later on, if you should answer my questions that is. I need you to tell me the locations of the other rebel camps."_

"_I know nothing." the man said, his eyes glared into Kazuki's, who cocked the hammer of his pistol back for emphasis._

"_Do not lie to me."_

"_It is your people who sent you that lie to you." the man said, desperately trying to force Kazuki to lower his weapon through words alone. "why are you trying to stop us? Those government dogs you are trying to help are cruel and heartless! They have slaughtered men, women and children, and sent whoever still lives to the labor camps so the fat rich ones could live more luxuriously. This country cares not about its people, but how much money they make by destroying our earth! Your so-called first world nations care only about making money from the blood of my people and not the sufferings they go through!"_

_All the while, his hand inched toward the revolver that he kept near his bed at all times. Kazuki didn't notice._

"_I don't care about any of that, my only mission is to either get information from you, or kill you." Kazuki emotionlessly toned "It is not my job to care about that."_

"_Fine. I will tell you." the man said and seemed ready to speak but suddenly grabbed his revolver from the hidden holster and fired at Kazuki. His aim was terrible as the bullet only grazed Kazuki's shoulder at a nearly point blank range. Kazuki immediately shot back. The rebel leader dropped back to his bed, silenced forever._

_However, Kazuki's stealth was now blown, as the gunshots had quickly alerted the rest of the camp. Rebels scattered through the camp yelled orders to each other in a unordered way. The bodies of the dead guards were found almost instantly._

"_This is Shikimori. Cover has been blown. Initiate Beta Maneuver, now! Prepare to provide support after the bombs are detonated." Kazuki spoke into his comm set and raised his assault rifle toward the tent entrance._

_Almost immediately, several rebels burst into the tent, all shouting and holding AK-47s. Kazuki immediately unleashed a full automatic spray of bullets. Several of the men fell screaming as bullets tore through them. Others tried to return fire in the cramped tent, but only ended up hitting their own comrades in the confusion within the small tent._

_Kazuki, meanwhile, exhausted his clip. His crouched and dashed forward, bullets fired by panicky rebels all zipping all around him. He drew out his combat knife and holding it in front of him. He engaged in close quarters combat, and with his knife, cut down the remaining men._

_Before more people could come in, Kazuki reloaded his rifle, sheathed his knife, and pulled out a detonator, which would detonate both the explosives and Claymore mines in unison. He activated the detonator and immediately, thunderous explosions blasted the camp apart. Thousands of small shrapnel in the form of small steel balls slaughtered the men; the Claymores's were deadly within a 50 meter radius and had a moderately effective range of 100 meters, though the shrapnel could reach far more further than that._

_Several explosions on the perimeter of the camp attracted enemy fire. And through the thunderous noises, the boom of a sniper rifle could be heard over and over again as Kazuki's partner sniped down confused and panicked rebels._

_Kazuki quickly sneaked out of the tent, and dashed toward the edge of the camp far from the explosions , where the majority of the rebels were gathered. In the confused and panicked atmosphere, Kazuki slipped out undetected. While the rebels were still being shot out in the open by Kazuki's partner, he was already making his way to rendezvous with his teammate. By the time the rebels had regrouped and managed to organize themselves, the sniper team was already out of the area and heading to extraction._

_Kazuki's first mission had been successful._

Kazuki roughly woke from his dream, full of flashbacks from the past. He grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to get out the strange feeling. Those dreams were unusual. He had never really dreamed about his first missions and never had such a dream so clear. It seemed as if he was watching a movie about his past.

He felt his pillow and saw that it was soaked with sweat. Odd, that wasn't even really a nightmare. He got out of bed and looked at the clock. 5:45. It was doubtful that he could get much sleep anyway. He walked over to the sink in his room and splashed cold water onto his face. After a brief moment of stretching, he decided that he would do some PT for the rest of the morning until he had to get ready for school.

After all, it wouldn't do for him to get weaken due to lack of training.

He started on his push-ups and sit-ups. As he worked out, he thought over what occurred that day. He wondered why that Yuuna girl seemed to be able to stir up feelings that he never had before. She had insisted on sleeping in his room, even on the same bed as they were unofficially "married." But he insisted that she stay in the girls dorm right next to his dorm. It took quite a while to convince her.

Meanwhile, he was busy fending off advances from Kuriko, and avoiding attempts to murder him from Rin.

It was a busy day indeed. Kazuki wondered what would happen in the future. It may become much more difficult to do missions with three girls following him around everywhere.

Still though, he wondered what would happen should his identity get out. Would the girls hate him? Would they avoid him? But in the end it didn't matter much. Because of the nature of his job, the girls would never get what they wanted, whether it be his genes or whatever else.

His thoughts went to Yuuna. What would happen to her? Her entire life seemed to revolve around Kazuki. She would never get what she wanted. He could never tell her his secret either. She could never become a part of his life they way she wanted.

Still, one more thought haunted his mind. Why was it that Miyama Yuuna seemed to be the center of his mind?

--

A thousand miles away, thunder rumbled in the sky as rain fell in downpours. The mighty wind blew the raindrops so far and so fast, that the stinging of the water was like the stabbing of a needle.

Yet, these raindrops failed to put out the enormous inferno of hot flames that was once a building. Neither could these raindrops affect the man stumbling across the rocky ground on which the burning building was built on.

He was a giant of a man, standing at least 7 feet tall. He was extremely muscular but was no buff, but lean. His long dark hair fell around his head in a long stream dripping rain water. He was clothed in a drenched gray jumpsuit, which seemed more like prisoner wear. His face, rather handsome, was covered in blood, which refused to get washed away by the rain. A large cut on his forehead near the roots of his hair continuously leaked out blood.

He was smiling broadly, as he made his way up a rocky hill. Once he reached the top, he stood, gazing over the scenery of a countryside hailed by a massive storm.

He took a deep breath and laughed. Insane, maniacal laughter echoed through the area. It was similar to the ones you would hear in some movie with the bad guy laughing after explaining some malicious plan, but this one was much different. For one, it was definitely not fake. Insanity could be seen in his eyes. His laughter held a certain quality of making all those around him feel fear. His arms rose up in the air as he let loose of everything and laughed.

He was free. He was finally free. After being caged, and imprisoned for countless years, he was finally free. Free to wreck the vengeance that he so sweetly desired. Oh, those who would pay for what he had gone through. Those whom he would make suffer.

"They all deserve to die." his voice came out raspy and spooky from years of disuse. He rose one hand in front of his face, and he examined the disfigured hand. It was completely black, contrasting starkly with his pale white complexion. The arm seemed more like a creatures, seemingly made of a hard, tough metal. Long, razor sharp claws replaced his fingertips.

"They all deserve to die." he said to no one in particular, his eyes glowing red in the darkness. "They will all pay..."

He continued to stumble on, vaguely aware of where he was going. There were many to hunt down and kill. He had much work to do before he could reach his most desired prize, the person whom he wanted to kill the most. The person whose name he despised, the name he had been whispering with hatred for all of his imprisoned life. The person who he wished to tear apart with his own hands slowly and painfully for every second of his torture that he had endured.

"Shino...Akai..."

A/N

Sorry for the long wait for those who liked the story, but I'm not one who will update quickly, so don't expect much.

The story will begin speeding up as the appearance of the first villain has now begun. I will also go more in-depth into Kazuki's past and all so please look forward to future chapters.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please please please review? Every time I get one, I feel the urge to write so if you want a quicker update, REVIEW!

Ahem. Well thanks for reading.


End file.
